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Find a perfect Christmas present in The National Forest

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Posted by admin on November 27, 2011 – 11:21 am
Filed under Miscellaneous

For those scratching their heads about what to get friends and family who seem to have everything, The National Forest may hold the perfect solution for Christmas gifts.

Plant a Tree is truly a gift that grows. Each tree is £25 and in return for supporting the Forest, you (or the person receiving the gift) will receive an invitation to attend a special tree planting event, a choice of tree to plant (normally ash, oak or birch), as well as a personalised certificate commemorating the gift. And you can keep visiting the Forest to see how your little tree within the woodland is growing. Please note that the last date for Christmas purchase is 16th December 2011.

With a daily market, quaint courtyards and gift shops, Ashby de la Zouch is also a lovely setting to pick up a special Christmas gift. The castle is near the town centre, so you can combine a visit here with a leisurely lunch and a touch of shopping. Browse around the wonderful shops at the Ferrers Centre for Arts & Crafts, which is home to craft workshops and the Ferrers Gallery. You can hand-paint a present for Christmas both here and at Crackpotz Ceramic Café in Alrewas. Barton Marina also has beautiful shops along its waterfront promenade including The Butcher, Baker and Ice-cream Maker and the Toys of Yesteryear.

You can pick up pottery and crafts at Sharpe’s Pottery Museum and at Mount St Bernard Abbey, where a unique range of pottery is lovingly handmade by its resident monks. Or how about a gift voucher for one of the fantastic woodland craft and bushcraft courses in The National Forest. Greenwood Days, Woodland Ways, the Survival School and Woodland Survival Crafts all offer gift vouchers that make perfect presents. These can be used for a range of truly memorable workshops, day and weekend courses.

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New guide to tracing your Scottish ancestry

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Posted by admin on November 26, 2011 – 12:34 pm
Filed under Attractions, Miscellaneous

Scotland has long been a country of rich history and heritage and has an estimated 50 million people from around the world who can lay claim to having Scots ancestry. In order to capitalise on the increasing interest in tracing family roots, spurred on by shows like BBC’s “Who do you think you are?” and countless radio shows, VisitScotland has launched a guide to tracing Scottish ancestry which will highlight the unusual and surprising places people can go to learn more about their ancestors. Launched to coincide with St Andrews Day, the guide is available to download from here from 30th November 2011. (Visitors downloading the guide will also be able to take advantage of over 350 money-off vouchers on accommodation offers on things to see, do, eat and drink across Scotland.)

The guide comes in an easy to use map format and is suitable for those just starting to trace their routes to the more advanced and experienced. It highlights a mix of Scottish visitor attractions, museums, libraries and research centres across the country and includes everything from the Scottish Fisheries Museum in Anstruther, Perth Museum and Art Gallery and Verdant Works in Dundee to a range of research centres including the Scotland’s People Centre based in Edinburgh, where the likes of Billy Connolly, Sir Alex Ferguson, Lulu and Gordon Ramsay have all had their ancestry traced. Also featured is the Highland Council Genealogy Centre in Inverness and the Mitchell Library in Glasgow.

Researching Scottish roots and ancestry couldn’t be simpler, it’s as easy as writing your name, date and place of birth and the family tree has started; adding in family members helps extend it and the new VisitScotland guide and Scotland’s world class depth of ancestral records showcases some of Scotland’s must visit genealogy and history hotspots, including:

Culloden Battlefield Visitor Centre, Inverness – There are many different stories about Culloden. Visitors often have their own views on the battle, the events that led up to it and those that flowed from it. Now, 250 years on, Culloden is still a site that connects visitors intimately with the past.

New Lanark World Heritage Centre, South Lanarkshire – Founded by David Dale in 1785, the village became famous as a model industrial community under the enlightened management of Dale’s son-in-law, Robert Owen, from 1800-1825. Owen transformed life in New Lanark with ideas and opportunities which were at least a hundred years ahead of their time. Child labour and corporal punishment were abolished, and villagers were provided with decent homes, schools and evening classes, free health care, and affordable food.

National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh – Scotland is a country with a remarkable history. So it should come as no surprise that Scotland is home to plethora of museums and heritage centres. These range from the major, internationally renowned collections in Edinburgh’s National Museum of Scotland to hundreds of small centres that specialise in the history of local communities.

Scottish Borders Archive and Local History Centre – Visit this centre to find out about Borders family history, communities, industries and people. Discover how the Scottish Borders has evolved and developed through the centuries in the state of the art archive facility.

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Blackpool’s iconic Laughing Man to become Santa this Christmas

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Posted by admin on November 25, 2011 – 11:19 pm
Filed under Attractions, Events

He is 6ft 3″, lives in the middle of an amusement park and has been laughing in hysterics for 76 years. It’s the famous Laughing Man at Pleasure Beach Blackpool and, for the first time in his life, he is getting completely transformed into a new festive guise… The Laughing Santa! The transformation marks the opening of Nickelodeon Land for 12 Days of Christmas this December.

Introduced to Blackpool Pleasure Beach in 1935, the Laughing Man rocked back and forth in his special Laugh Booth outside the parks Funhouse attraction. He has since moved and can now be found in the amusement park by the new Nickelodeon Land area.  If you’ve never seen him before, just watch the video below:

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York’s first five star hotel

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Posted by admin on November 25, 2011 – 10:51 pm
Filed under Accommodation

Cedar Court Grand Hotel & Spa has become York’s first 5 star hotel and the only AA 5 star rated hotel in Yorkshire.  In addition, The Grill Room at The Grand restaurant has been awarded two prestigious AA Rosettes for the outstanding quality of its culinary offering.  There are just 90 other AA 5 star hotels in the UK and, excluding The Grand, only 23 outside London.

The £25m Cedar Court Grand Hotel & Spa opened in May 2010 following the extensive refurbishment of the former North Eastern Railway headquarters – one of York’s most iconic Edwardian buildings.

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Flying high: Glasgow’s latest luxury hotel

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Posted by admin on November 22, 2011 – 4:30 pm
Filed under Accommodation

It may be small, but Glasgow’s latest luxury hotel – Grasshoppers Glasgow – is wowing guests with its stylish contemporary rooms, stunning views overlooking Glasgow, and eye catching displays of Scottish art, including photographs by former Buzzcocks drummer John Maher.

The new penthouse house hotel was officially opened this week by Councillor Gordon Matheson, leader of Glasgow City Council and Chair of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau.

The 30 bed boutique hotel is located on the sixth floor of the city’s historic Caledonian Chambers building, overlooking Central Station, built by celebrated Glasgow architect James Miller, the visionary behind many of Glasgow’s best loved buildings.  The derelict top floor of the building was painstakingly refurbished and transformed into a £1.25 million boutique hotel, in a joint venture with Network Rail.

The hotel’s central location, sandwiched between Buchanan Street and the International Financial Services District, and its focus on service, style and value – rooms are available from just £85 per night – are proving to be a winning formula with business travellers and holidaymakers.

So where is the best seaside town in the UK?

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Posted by admin on November 19, 2011 – 11:40 am
Filed under Miscellaneous

If the British Travel Awards are to be believed, the best seaside town in the UK is St. Ives in Cornwall, with Whitby in North Yorkshire and Bournemouth in Dorset picking up 2nd and 3rd places respectively.  But those of us familiar with the UK coastline know that there are many more gems dotted along its 7,723 miles and, worthy winners though those three are, it’s all a question of taste.

Some will prefer the brashness of Blackpool, others the bustle of Brighton. Every seaside town has its own unique charm and we’d like to hear what your favourite is and why!  Post a comment and let us know…

Grandparents are more likely than ever to shun the traditional family Christmas and go on holiday instead

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Posted by admin on November 17, 2011 – 11:59 am
Filed under Accommodation, Miscellaneous

Over-55 empty-nesters are apparently clamouring for festive breaks in UK hotels. So say Shearings Holidays, at least. They (the grandparents, not Shearings!) want the freedom to enjoy Christmas in their own way and be pampered, rather than pressured.  Many decide on a particular hotel and go back year after year.

Shearings say the trend has grown rapidly over the past five years.  Many of their customers are now making a festive UK hotel break an annual holiday tradition. The company’s booking data shows that some customers have been away every Christmas for the last 12 years, many to the exact same location, showing that tradition is still important.

What are you going to be doing this Christmas?  Staying at home or going the route of an increasing number of grandparents?

Cornish resort scoops 3 awards in one week!

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Posted by admin on November 17, 2011 – 11:40 am
Filed under Accommodation

There are smiles all around this week at the Gwel an Mor luxury resort in Portreath, Cornwall as they have been honoured with 3 major new awards to add to their trophy collection.

At the Cornwall Tourism Awards 2011, organised by VisitCornwall, Gwel an Mor won the prestigious Gold title in the ‘Holiday Village of the Year’ award, as well as picking up a special award for ‘Outstanding Customer Service’.  On the same evening they also won the Diamond award for ‘The Best Holiday Park in Cornwall’ for the fourth year running at the Hoseasons’ annual awards dinner.

Things are certainly looking up for the resorts as the news has come on the back of Cornwall being named the Best UK Region at the recent British Travel Awards.

Scotland’s Winter Festival launch

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Posted by admin on November 15, 2011 – 5:02 pm
Filed under Attractions, Events

The Winter Festival (26th November 2011 to 25th January 2012) brings together three of Scotland’s most culturally significant celebrations: St Andrew’s Day, Hogmanay and Burns Season.  The festival will kick off with the lead up to St Andrew’s Day on 26th and 27th November 2011 with the Visit for Free weekend which this year will entail free or discounted entry to even more of Scotland’s best-loved visitor attractions.  Popular Historic Scotland attractions, such as Edinburgh, Stirling and Urquhart Castles, will again take part with Camera Obscura, Discovery Point, Glasgow Science Centre and the Scotch Whisky Experience among those joining in this year.

There is also the launch of an international photo competition via the Blipfoto website to find the best image of the global celebrations, as well as the world’s biggest online ceilidh.

On the 30th November 2011, St Andrew’s Day parties and celebratory events will be taking place the length and breadth of the country and all across the globe.

Winter adventures in North East England

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Posted by admin on November 14, 2011 – 11:02 am
Filed under Attractions

As the weather turns colder, there’s no better way to spend a day than wrapping up and blowing away the cobwebs in the great outdoors. Set in awe-inspiring countryside and close to spectacular beaches, destinations to choose from include striking Dunstanburgh Castle, near Alnwick and the enchanting Lindisfarne Priory on Holy Island.

On a fresh winter’s morning with bright blue skies, you can see the coastal Northumberland properties at their most beautiful and take in the surrounding countryside and beaches. Combine a day at the seaside with a crisp outdoor walk and a visit to an English Heritage property, such as Warkworth Castle and Belsay Hall, Gardens & Castle. So, get out those hats, gloves and scarves, wrap up and escape from the hustle and bustle of life!

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